The post is not written by Kristi Gustafson Barlette. Wendi Brandow is the author.

Yesterday was a typical winter Sunday at our house, with football on the TV and something yummy cooking in the kitchen. As is also typical, I ended up completely annoyed at the commercials my kids were exposed to as a result of watching professional sports on network television. I believe that sports, both watching and participating in them are healthy outlets for children, and offer lots of valuable lessons. Unfortunately, I am not quite as fond of the lessons learned during the commercial breaks.

When a Bud Light commercial came on for quite literally the 4th or 5th time, I groaned, which prompted my 6-year-old to ask what was wrong. I shared that while I liked the fact he enjoys watching sports, I don’t enjoy the messages the advertising companies are trying to convince him of during the commercials. He said, “Like that Bud Light is really good?”

I was floored. For those of you who think your kids aren’t paying attention or that advertising companies aren’t reaching children, think again. He knew exactly the sort of message he was supposed to be receiving. I’m sure it won’t be too long (if it hasn’t happened already) that he picks up on the way women are portrayed in those same ads.

Since turning off ESPN is not an option, we are working hard to counteract those messages by initiating direct conversations about the images that are broadcast on television and discussing the purpose of advertising (including that it isn’t always truthful).

When the right time comes, we will also be honest with them about our own experiences and mistakes.

In the meantime, here’s my suggestion to ESPN, to stem the problem in a big picture way. Launch ESPN Jr. You can use the same content, and double your advertising dollars by selling kid-friendly ad time without additional production costs. Efforts similar to this would be in the best interest of all our children and would show that you really are good sports.

7 Responses

That’s a good idea. Until that day comes, try this technique: DVR the game, start watching it about 45 minutes after kick-off starts. Then, FF through the commercials Also, if it’s on ESPN, you can watch through your computer or X-Box, which has less commercials or none at all. I was subjected to similar commercials as a kid and I came out fine. The relentless commercial attacks on your kids are only as strong as your parenting skills (or lack thereof) will allow.

well, one detail that should be noted is that you are specifically criticizing espn when there are NO football games on espn on sundays. they do have a highlight show at night but all NFL games on sundays are on network television like cbs, fox, nbc. so relly this is every sunday in the winter at your house yet you never actualy knew which channel your family was watching? try again.

Thanks WOOPS, though you will note that at no point did I say the football game we were watching was on ESPN. In addition to football games, my son watches a myriad of other sports and follows sports news as well. He is involved with some fantasy leagues and he and my husband watch the pregame shows on ESPN…they also watch sports news on ESPN and top 10 shows, etc. As a network dedicated solely to sports it would be the most likely candidate to have a duplicate station (since it already has numerous sister/partners–ESPN U, ESPN 2, etc.) using the same content while selling additional ad space to kid friendly companies.

Again, with Fantasy Football there are a ton of on-line sites that broadcast opinions and host experts, with little to none beer-commercial interruption. Yahoo actually does a great job with fantasy stuff on game-day and the live video goes right up until 1:00. There’s many ways around negative commercial advertising, if that’s what you are seeking. Turning off ESPN actually is a great option.